Apparatus for assembling articles



My E44., G. E. Guss ET AL @349,956

APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES v Filed July l, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 3Q, E??

G. E. @LESS ETL APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES Filed July 1, 1942 2 Sheets-Shea?1 2 l Wl Ii HIM ATTO/Vey t Patented May 30, 1944 APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING ARTICLES George E. Glias and John H. Schmidt,

Md., assignors to Western Incorporated, New York, N. Y.,

New York Baltimore, Electric Company. a corporation of Application July 1, 1942, Serial No. 449,362 Claims. (Cl. 29-84) This invention relates to apparatus for assembling articles and more particularly to apparatus .for assembling cable terminals.

Telephone cable terminals must be constructed to perform two principal functions; first, they must seal the inside of the cable from the atmosphere and, secondly, they must prevent the conductors contained in the cable from coming into contact with one another' as they pass through the termi-nal. In gas filled cables the diiliculty of sealing the terminal about each separate conductor is accentuated by the pressure of the gas inside of the cable. A method which may be used to seal such cable terminals comprises perforating" a disc of an insulating material such as an unvulcanized rubber compound which is disposed within the cable terminal. A

bushing is inserted through each perforation and a conductor is led through the bushing and soldered thereto at the outer end. When the unvulcanized rubber disc is vulcanized, a tight seal 'is formed and the conductors are flxedly positioned to prevent short circuiting. While satisfactory terminals may be made in this manner, the tediousness of separately perforating the insulator disc and inserting a bushing made such seals somewhat costly and difficult to manufacture in mass production.

Objects of this invention are to provide apparatus for assembling articles and more particularly to provide apparatus for assembling cable terminals.

Anappar-atus for assembling articles embodying the present invention comprises a perforator having ailixed thereon a plurality of perforating pins for perforating a member and a press for forcing a plurality of articles into the perforations in the material made by the perforating pins and thereby simultaneously removing the perforating pins therefrom.

Other objects and features of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of an assembled cable terminal;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a cable terminal taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a preformed insulator;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view formed insulator Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a disc of im sulating material;

of another lpre- Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a nipple positioning member having a portion thereof broken away;

Fig.- 'I is a perspective view of a centering member;

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view of the meinbers shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 'I in assembly;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a press block;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a guide plate;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a guide member;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a perforator;

Fig.` 13 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus at one stage of the assembly of the cable terminal, andf Fig. 14 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus at another stage of the assembly of the cable terminal.

In the particular embodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings, a nipple I0 is positioned with a threaded end I3 downwardly within a recess II in a disc I2 (Fig. 6) having a number of holes II-M formed in the bottom I5 of the recess II. A preformed insulator I6 (Fig. 3), having a plurality oi' holes IB-IB extending 'therethrough corresponding to the holes II-II formed in the bottom I5 of the recess II, is dropped into the nipple I0 and rests upon the tongues I9--I9 (Fig. 1) formed near the threaded end I3 of the nipple I0. The insulator I6 may be composed of any suitable material, but in the particular embodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings, the insulator is made of a suitable ceramic material. A second preformed insulator 20 (Fig. 4), herein described as being composed of a partially vulcanized rubber compound. like the ceramic insulator I 6 has a number of holes 2I-2I extending therethrough which correspond to the holes Ill-I4. The insulator 20, which has a di'- ameter slightly greater than the inner diameter of the nipple I Il in order to provide a tight fit, is forced down the nipple until it is tight against the ceramic insulator I6. Centering pins 22-22 based in a disc 24 are inserted upwardly through the holes I4-l4 in the bottom I5 of the recess II and through the corresponding holes in the insulators I5 and 20. At this point the insulators I6 and 20 are xedly positioned within the nipple "l and the holes Il-M, I 8--I8, and 2l-2| are aligned with one another. A disc of insulating material 25 (Fig. 5) which in the particular embodiment of the invention described is an unvulcanized rubber compound and which has a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the nipple III, ispacked tightly into nipple I0 against the insulator 20, as shown in Fig. 8. A guide fixture 26 is then inverted from its position as shown in Fig. ll and guide rods 28-26, which are` ailixed to the guide fixture 26, are slid through apertures 29-29 in the disc I2 until spacer rods 36-30 contact lips 3I-3I formed at one edge of holes 32--32 in the member 26.

The length of the spacer rods 33-30 may be adjusted by rotating them in threaded apertures 34-34 in the disc I2 (Fig. 8) until they are advanced or retracted the desired distance, and the bars may be set in the desired position by tightening lock nuts 35-35. I'he length of the spacer rods 30-30 is so regulated that a perforated end 36 of a cylindrical sleeve 21 formed on the guide fixture 26, presses tightly against the disc 25 when the guide xture 26 is inserted in the nipple I0. Perforations 38-38 formed in the end 36 correspond to the perforations I4-I4 and are aligned therewith. The insulator acts as a barrier and prevents the somewhat plastic unvulcanized rubber which comprises the disc from being forced around the outside of the insulator I6.

A perforator 33, comprising four perforating pins 39-39, which are fixedly mounted in a cylindrical member 40 designed to t within the cylindrical sleeve 31, and a block 4I to which the member 4I! is connected, is inverted from its position as shown in Fig. 12 and the guide rods 28--26 are slid through the holes 42--42 in the block 4I as is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 13. Pressure is then exerted by any suitable means upon the block 4I to force the perforating pins toward the disc 24. During this operation the perforating pins 39-39 are guided by the apertures 33-38 into the disc 25 of unvulcanized rubber compound and through the apertures 2I-2|, I8I8 and I4-I4 in the insulators 2t! and I6 and disc I2, respectively, until conical points 44-44 on the ends of the pins 39--39 finally emerge into a centrally located hole 45 of the disc 24 as is shown in full lines in Fig. 13.

It will be noticed that the bases of the conical points 44-44 are set in from the outer periphery of the perforating pins 39-39 to form seats 46-46. The apparatus as thus assembled is inverted and four bushings 46-48, comprising long, thin, metallic tubes are seated on the seats 46-46 (Fig. l2) formed on the perforating pins 39-39. A guide plate 49 (Fig. 10) having four holes 56-50 formed therein is positioned over the perforating pins 39-39 by forcing the guide rods 28-28 into slots 5I-5I in the guide plate 49. The bushings 48-48 are then inserted through the holes 50-5IJ, and the guide plate t9 is slid down to a point midway of the bushings to rigidly position them during the following operation. A press block 52 (Fig. 9) has holes 54-56 formed near its extremities for permitting the guide rods 28-28 to slide therethrough. When the press block 52 is positioned on the guide rods 26-28, a plurality'of indentations 55--55 which correspond to the apertures I 4-I4 are aligned with these apertures. The block 52 is forced downwardly by any suitable means, during which operation the bushings are forced against the seats 46-46 on the perforating pins 39--39 and are, consequently, led back through the perforations by the perforating pins 39-39.

In this manner four bushings 48-48 are inserted through the insulating disc 25 in only two steps rather than three steps formerly required for the insertion of one bushing when the holes are punched individually in the usual manner. The bushings 48-48 have the same outside diameter as the periorating pins 39-39 so that when Vthe bushings 46-46 are seated upon the seats 46-46 of the perforating pins 39-39, the two elements, pin and bushing, form a single continuous surface and the bushings will be led back through the perforations by the perforating pins 38-39 without injuring the walls of the perforations. When the bushings 43-48 have been forced through the disc 25 and consequently have entirely removed the perforating pins 33-39 therefrom, the centering pins 22--22 are withdrawn from the insulators I6 and 20, since the bushings 46-48 now ilxedly position the insulators I6, 20 and 25.

The above described perforating and bushing inserting operations are repeated (see Fig. 14) with a perforator similar to that shown in Fig. l2, but having perforating pins designed to pass through all of the holes I4I4 other than those in which the four bushings 48-48 are positioned by the above-described operations. The guide plate used in the second bushing inserting operation has holes corresponding to the perforating pins in the second perforator. When all of the bushings are inserted, the member 26 is removed from the' guide rods 26-28, and the nipple IIJ is withdrawn from the recess II. A perforated disc of insulating material 56, made of partially vulcanized material that is similar to the insulator 20. is then packed down against the disc 25 of unvulcanized material and the assembly put in a mold to vulcanize the unvulcanized rubber compound in the disc 25. When the vulcanization is completed, the cable terminal is then ready for use.

Briefly reviewing the assembling of the cable terminal, the nipple I0 is positioned with the threaded portion I3 downwardly in the recess II formed in the disc I2 (Fig. 8). 'I'hevpreformed perforated discs I6 and 20 oi insulating material are then dropped into the nipple I0 and positioned therein with the holes in each disc aligned with the holes I 4I4 in the bottom I5 of the recess .II by means of centering pins 22-22. The disc 25 of an unvulcanized rubber compound is packed tightly against the disc 20. The member 26 is inverted from its position as shown in Fig. 11 so that the cylindrical sleeve 37 slides down inside of the nipple I0 until the end 36 presses tightly against the unvulcanized rubber disc 25. Four perforating pins 39-39 are forced downwardly through four centrally located apertures 36--36 in the bottom 36, and through discs 25, 20 and I6 until the points 44-@4 of the perforating pins 39--39 extend into the aperture in the disc 24 as shown in full in Fig. 13. The guide plate 49 is slipped onto the guide rods 28-28 by means of the slots 5I-5I and the ends of the bushings 43--48 are inserted through the four holes 50-50 formed in the guide plate 49 while the other ends are seated on the seats 46-(36 of the perforating pins Bil-39. The press block 52 is then slipped over the ends of the guide rods 28-26, the free ends of the bushings 48-48 tted into the indentations 55--55 in the press block 52, and pressure applied by any suitable means to the top of the press block 52 to force the bushings 48.-48 against the seats 46-46 in the perforating pins 39-39 with sufficient pressure to force the perforating pins from the perforations and at the same time to lead the bushings back through the perforations. The disc 24, to which the guide pins 22-22 are fixed, is slipped ofi of the guide rods 28-28 and the perforating and bushing inserting operations repeated with a perforator having perforating pins disposed so as to enter all of the holes IO-ll other than those in which the bushings are now positioned.

The apparatus is disassembled, the nipple Il removed therefrom, a disc II of insulating material packed over the disc 25, and the assembled cable terminal then subjected to heat and pressure until theinsulating discs and BI are properly vulcanized. 'I'he finished cable terminal is tested by subjecting it to a gas pressure of about one hundred pounds per square inch for ten minutes.

To attach a cable terminal toa cable, each wire or conductor carried by the cable `is fed through one of the bushings "-48. The threaded portion I3 of the nipple lli is screwed into the threaded end of the cable and the conductors soldered to the bushings in such a manner as to v entirely close the one end of the bushing. The

conductors may then be Aattached to whatever leads desired. Such a cable terminal is gas tight and obviates danger of short-circuits.

While the invention has been particularly described in connection with the production of cable terminals. it is applicable whenever it is desired to produce a plurality of perforations in a mem ber and to insert articles in the perforations.

Many variations from the particular embodiment o f the invention disclosed in the accomu panying drawings may be made without departing from the scope of Athe invention. For example, the number of and the spacing of the bushings 48-48 may be varied to suit the particular requirements of the particular cables to which the terminals are attached. The number and type of insulators used will vary according to the type of cable for which the terminal is being constructed. The centering pins 22-22 may be inserted through any of the holes in the insulators IG and 20, but must be so positioned with respect to the perforating pins 39-39 that the two are never positioned in the same holes during the same time.

These and other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

l. An apparatus for assembling articles, which comprises a perforator having a plurality of perforating pins disposed thereon, a guide having a plurality of spaced holes for guiding the perforating pins into a member to be perforated, a seat on each perforating pin for positioning an article thereon after the pin has penetrated the member to be perforated, and means for forcing the articles against the seats on the perforating pins to force the perforating pins back out of the perforations formed in the member by the perforating pins, the perforating pins acting as guides for directing the insertion of the articles into the perforations. V

2. An apparatus for assembling cable terminals, which comprises a centering member provided with a plurality of centering pins for locating pins acting as guides for directing the bushings into the perforations made in the insulating material by the perforating pins.

' 3. An apparatus for assembling cable terminals, which comprises a centering member provided with a plurality oi pins for positioning a. preformed apertured `disc of insulating material in a predetermined position, a combined perforator and guide member provided with a plurality of perforating pins for insertion through the perforations in the preformed disc and for perforating a disc of insulating material. and a press block for forcing a plurality of bushings against the ends of the perforating pins and into the perforations formed in the second mentioned disc by the pins, thereby removing the perforating pins therefrom.

4. In an apparatus for assembling cable terminals, a member having a recess formed therein for retaining a nipple, a centering member provided with a plurality of centering pins designed to be inserted into the nipple for positioning a preformed perforated disc of insulating material inserted in the nipple, a perforator having a plurality of perforating pins for perforating a disc of insulating material positioned adjacent to the perforated disc, a guide for spacing the perforating pins in alignment with the holes in the preing within a nipple a preformed perforated disc i of insulating material, a perforator having a plurality of perforating pins for perforating a disc of insulating material positioned within the nipple, a guide member for directing the perforating pins into the insulating material to be perforated in a predetermined spaced relationship with one another, and a bushing press block for forcing bushings against the perforating pins to cause Withdrawal of the perforating pins from the insulating material after the insulating material has been perforated thereby, the perforatformed perforated disc, a press block for urging a plurality of bushings seated upon one end of the perforating pins into the perforations formed in the second mentioned disc by the perforating* pins, and a guide for positioning the bushings during their insertion into the perforationsl 5. An apparatus for assembling cable terminals, which comprises a member for retaining a nipple therein, a centering member having a plurality of centering pins thereon for positioning a preformed apertured disc of insulating material within the nipple, a perforator having a plurality of perforating pinns for perforating a disc of insulating material inserted in the nipple, a guide for predeterminedly spacing the perforating pins, and a bushing press block for forcing a plurality of bushings into the perforations formed in the disc of insulating material by the perforating pins and simultaneously removing the perforating pins therefrom.

6. In an apparatus for assembling cable terminals, a disc having a recess formed therein for retaining a nipple, a centering member having a plurality of centering pins thereon for insertion into the nipple to position therein a plurality of preformed perforated discs of insulating material, a perforator provided with a plurality of perforating pins for producing in an unperforated disc of insulating material inserted in the nipple a plurality of perforations in alignment with the perforations in the preformed discs, and a press block for urging a plurality of bushings seated upon the ends of the perforating pins that have perforated the disc of insulating material against I the ends of the perforating pins to simultaneously discs of insulating material within the nipple, a perforator having a plurality oi pins based therein for perforating a discof resilient insulating material disposed in the nipple, a tubular member having a closed end in which a plurality of apertures are formed which correspond to the apertures formed in the nipple retaining member, said perforating pinebeing designed to be inserted through the apertures in both the nipple retaining member and the tubular member other than those apertures in which the centering pins vare disposed, a guide having apertures formed therein which correspond to those formed in the nipple retaining member for directing a plurality of bushings onto the ends of the perforating pins after they have penetrated the disc of resilient insulated material, and a press for forcing the bushings into the perforations made by the perforating pins and thereby removing the perforating pins therefrom.

8. An apparatus i'or assembling articles, which comprises a combined perforator and guide member provided with a plurality of perforating pins for penetrating .la resilient member, each of the perforating pins having a conical end and a seat formed at the base of the conical end upon which an article may be seated, and means for forcing articles seated on the perforating pins into the perforations made in the resilient member by the perforating pins, whereby the perforating pins are removed from the perforations while guida-v ing `the articles through the perforations.

9. vAn apparatus for assembling cable terminals, which comprises a member having a recess therein for retaining a nipple, a combined perforator and guide member provided with a plurality of perforating pins for perforating a disc of insulating material positioned within the nipple. and a press block for forcing a plurality of bushings into the perforations made in the insulating material by the perforating pins and at the same time forcing the periorating pins back out of the perforations.

10. An apparatus for assembling cable terminals, which comprises a member having a recess formed therein for retaining a nipple, a combined perforator and guide member provided with a plurality of perforatiug pins for perforating a disc of insulating material positioned in the nipple, a. bushing guide for positioning a plurality of bushings upon the ends of the perforating-pins after the pins have penetrated the disc of insulating material, and a press block for forcing a plurality of bushings positioned in the bushing guide into the perforations made in the insulating material by the perforating pins and thereby forcing the perforating pins therefrom.

GEORGE E. GLISS. JOHN H. SCHMIDT. 

